WASHINGTON May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on
Monday blocked an energy-efficiency bill backed by manufacturers
and environmentalists, forfeiting a chance to vote on the
long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

On a nearly party-line vote of 55-36, President Barack
Obama's Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance
the bipartisan energy bill supported by the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, had
offered a vote on a separate bill to take the final decision on
Keystone out of Obama's hands and give it to Congress if
Republicans allowed passage of the energy bill.

But Republicans refused. They complained that Reid barred
them from offering amendments to the bill, including one that
would have reined in emissions-cutting regulations on coal-fired
power plants, a top strategy in Obama's fight against climate
change.

The blocked energy-efficiency bill would cut electricity use
by imposing tough building codes and requiring federal data
centers to find ways to consolidate and become more efficient.

In turn, the bill, sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, a
New Hampshire Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican,
would help protect the environment, create nearly 200,000 jobs,
and save consumers billions of dollars a year by 2030, backers
said.